This originating post constitutes a new macOS 10.13 High Sierra Desktop Guide for Skylake-X/X299, which certainly can still grow and improve by your estimated user feedback. This Skylake-X/X299 10.13 High Sierra Desktop Guide bases on the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe (although initially, tests also have been performed with the Gigabyte X299 Aorus Gaming 9, thus this latter mainboard is also partly addressed in my guide below). However, also other X299 ASUS mainboard models or X299 mainboards of other brands might be compatible with this guide after likely considering and implementing few mandatory modifications not accounted by this guide (see post #5310 for further clarifications). The i7-7800X (6-core) was chosen as the Skylake-X Startup Configuration Model in order to minimise the guide development costs. It has been already replaced within the goal configuration by the i9-7980XE (18 core). All other Skylake-X models compatible with this guide are detailed in the figure below.

Carefully consider, which Skylake-X model might be the correct choice for your specific needs. Also please take note of the following limitations:

a.) The i7-7640X and 7740X only support two channels DDR4-2666 and only posses 16 PCI express 3.0 lanes, which are already used up by implementing a state-of-the-art 16 lane PCIe graphics adapter. Thus, there are no further PCI express 3.0 lanes for using PCIe NVMe drives or additional PCIe adapters!

b.) The i7-7800X and i7-7820X already support four channels DDR4-2666 but however also possess only 28 PCI express 3.0 lanes! Thus by using a state-of-the-art 16 lane PCIe graphics adapter and a PCIe NVMe drive, there are nearly no PCI express 3.0 lanes remaining. When adding one or two additional PCIe adapters, one exceeds the 28 available PCI express 3.0 lanes by far! In this case, the resulting configuration might be error-prone!

c.) Thus, considering a.) and b.), I strongly recommend to start at least with the i9-7900X, which already supports four channels DDR4-2666 and also implements 44 PCI express 3.0 lanes

Further note, that for all Skylake-X processors, a sophisticated liquid cooling system is absolutely mandatory! For stock speeds something like the Corsair H115i might by sufficient. However, if somebody aims at OverClocking (OC) of the i9-7900X or Skylake-X Processors above, sophisticated Water Blocks for CPU and VRM of e.g. EKWB seem absolutely mandatory and unavoidable.

Thanks to a very recent iMac Pro dump performed by @TheOfficialGypsy, we now have been able to successfully implement the necessary iMacPro1,1 details in both Clover_v2.4k_r4369 (thanks to Sherlocks) and Clover Configurator v4.60.0.0 (SMBIOS details, thanks to Mackie100) by beginning of January 2018. In collaboration with @macandrea we first achieved the direct implementation of macOSHigh Sierra 10.13.2 (17C2120), and now also the direct implementation of macOSHigh Sierra 10.13.3 (17D2047), which can be subsequently updated to macOSHigh Sierra 10.13.3 SA (17D2102) or macOSHigh Sierra 10.13.4 Public Beta 3 (17E160e) via the Appstore.

Note that with AptioMemoryFix.efi, the new Skylake/X299 iMac Pro build now also features fully native NVRAM support. No need for EmuVariableUefi-64.efi in /EFI/Clover/drivers64UEFI/ to properly transmit the SMBIOS iMacPro1,1 credentials to Apple.

We also reached Native Display Brightness Control / Native NightShift Functionality for Monitors with DCC/IC Support thanks to users @Bendge and @Ramalama.

Since 10.13 SU and with AppleIntelPCHPMC, Apple now natively implements IOPCIPrimaryMatchID "a2af8068" and AppleUSBXHCISPT on the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe. Thus, all external and internal XHC USB 3.0 (USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A) and USB 2.0 (USB 2.0 Gen 1 Type-A) ports work natively at expected data transfer rates (90 Mb/S (USB 3.0)and 40 MB/s (USB 2.0), respectively) for all X299 mainboards. All external and internal USB 3.1 (USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A and Type-C) ports were natively implemented already before on different controllers than XHC and also work at data rates up to 140 MB/s. Up to my best knowledge, the native XHC USB implementation states for all X299 mainboards.

Note that opposite to my previous EFI-Folder distributions, EFI-X299-10.13.3-Release-iMacPro1,1-200218.zip does not contain any default audio configuration. You have to implement the audio approach of your choice during the Post Installation process in Section E.)! You can select between three possible audio implementations detailed in section E.3): 1.) The AppleALC audio approach (section E.3.1) bases on AppleALC.kext v1.2.2 and Lilu.kext v1.2.1 and could be implemented thanks to the extensive efforts and brilliant work of @vit9696 and @apfelnico . 2.) The VoodooHDA audio approach (section E.3.2) bases on the VoodooHDA.kext v2.9.0d10 and VoodooHDA.prefPane v1.2 and provides both analogue audio output/input and HDMI/DP digital audio output. 3.) Finally, @toleda 's cloverALC audio approach (section E.3.3) bases on the realtekALC.kext v2.8 and on an additional pathing of the native vanilla AppleHDA.kext in the /S/L/E/ directory of the System Disk and has been successfully implemented thanks to the instructions and help of @Ramalama.

Thanks to the SmallTree-Intel-211-AT-PCIe-GBE.kext, also the Intel I211_AT Gigabit on-board LAN controller of the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe is now correctly implemented and fully functional, in addition to the anyway natively implemented and of course also fully operational Intel I219-V Gigabyte on-board LAN controller of the Asus Prime X299 Deluxe (see Section E.8 of my guide).

C.) Important General Note/Advice and Error Prevention
Hardware and System Configuration recommendations. Make sure you've read all of this before complaining that something does not work.
D.) iMac Pro macOS 10.13 High Sierra System Setup
This chapter includes a general guideline how to perform the initial setup of your iMac Pro with macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D2047) - iMacPro special build. Note that there is no official downloadable installer for the iMacPro1,1. Here's how to officially built one. Only pristine sources from Apple.
D.1) iMac Pro EFI-Folder Preparation
D.2) iMac Pro macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D2047) Installer Package Creation
D.3) iMac Pro macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D2047) USB Flash Drive Installer Creation
D.4) iMac Pro macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D2047) Clean Install on Skylake-X/X299
D.5) Direct iMac Pro conversions of a functional Skylake-X/X299 system with a SMBIOS System Definition different from iMacPro1,1 and a standard macOS build implementation
D.6) iMac Pro macOS High Sierra Build Update Procedure

Most of the components purchased at Amazon.de, Caseking.de, Mindfactory.de, Alernate.de

Costs: 8904€

Compared with:

B.) Mainboard BIOS

Please find below a detailed instruction for ASUS X299 mainboard BIOS Firmware patching, as well as a summary of my actual Asus X299 Prime Deluxe BIOS settings, in line with some likely already outdated Gigabyte X299 Aorus Gaming 9 BIOS settings, which I used during my initial testing period. Any user feedback that provides more actual settings for the latter mainboard is appreciated and will be immediately implemented.

You now have all required data in the ~/Desktop/UEFIPatch/ Folder, which basically are UEFIPatch, patches.txt and the most recent ASUS BIOS Firmware distribution for your particular ASUS X299 mainboard.

11.) Connect the USB Drive to the USB-port assigned to the ASUS BIOS Flashback procedure (see your mainboard manual for further details)

Subsequently, press the EZ BIOS-Flashback button on your mainboard for three seconds until the EZ BIOS Flashback led starts blinking, indicating that the EZ BIOS Flashback procedure is in progress. Release the button and wait until the light turns off, indicating that the EZ BIOS Flashback procedure has completed.

Alternatively you can also check the MSR 0xE2 register status by means of Pike Alpha's AppleIntelInfo.kext. Note however that the latter kext is incompatible with the i9-7980XE! Users of the latter Skylake-X CPU should opt for either the "bdmesg" or "voltageshift" MSR 0xE2 register verification approach detailed above.

Before applying the specific settings, please provide your ASUS X299 Prime Deluxe with the actual and hopefully best working BIOS firmware.

​

After Updating System time and System Date, enable X.M.P for your DDR4 modules. Don't forget to enable the EZ XMP Switch previously to this step on your ASUS Mainboard! Subsequently switch form the easy to the advanced ASUS BIOS Setup mode by pressing F7.

I use all optimized BIOS settings (OoB, no OC yet) despite a few changes listed in detail below:

"ASUS MultiCore Enhancement": When set to "Auto", MCE allows you to maximise the overclocking performance optimised by the ASUS core ratio settings. When disabled, MCE allows to set to default core ratio settings.

"CPU Core Ratio - Sync All Cores":Tremendous increase in CPU performance can be achieved with the CPU Core Ratio set to "Sync All Cores". In case of the i9-7980XE, the Geekbench score difference is approx. 51.000 (disabled) compared to 58.000 (enabled)! Note however, that Sync All Cores should be used onlyin case of the availability of an excellent and extremely sophisticated water cooling system! Otherwise, CPU Core Ratio should be set to "Auto". Further note that with CPU Core Ratio set to "Sync All Cores", the AVX Instruction Core Ratio Negative Offset must be set to "3" and the AVX-512 Instruction Core Ratio Negative Offset must be set to "2". Without the correct core ratio offsets, your system might become unstable with CPU Core Ratio set to "Sync All Cores"!

VT-d Note: For compatibility with VM or parallels, VT-d can be also ENABLED... Verify however, in this case that in your config.plist the boot flag "dart=0" is checked under Arguments in the "Boot" Section of Clover Configurator!

Intel(R) Power Gadget (IPG) CPU Power Consumption note: for the proper display of the CPU Power Consumption in e.g. the Intel(R) Power Gadget it is absolutely mandatory to enable both /AI Tweaker/CPU SVID Support/ and/Advanced/CPU Configuration/CPU Power Management Configuration/Enhanced Intel Speed Step Technology (EIST)

CPU Core Voltage Correction for ASUS X299 mainboard users: The ASUS Skylake-X BIOS microcode implementation is still somewhat buggy. With "/AI Tweaker/CPU Core Voltage/" set to "Auto", the CPU Core Voltages assigned to your Skylake-X CPU might be simply too high. This actually does not only affect the OSX but also the Windows performance in the same way!

It is recommended to fix the CPU Core Voltage in the ASUS mainboard BIOS to a minimum value that still provides flawless system boot and full system performance during CPU max. load conditions in line with significantly CPU core temperatures. With CPU max. load conditions I refer to the max. turbo frequency (e.g. 4.4 Ghz for the i9-7980XE) applied to ALL cores!

The optimal CPU Core Voltage setting can be retrieved within the following iterative approach:

Note that the iterative approach detailed below assumes the BIOS settings described in Section B1) - point 1) to 10) above, however by considering the following else optional settings:

c.) Reboot into windows and check if the Cinebench CPU benchmark scores are still in the expected range by also controlling the respective Core VID values during the Cinebench CPU benchmark max. load conditions

d.) Repeat b.) and c.) until either your Cinebench CPU benchmarks scores start to significantly decrease or you start facing problems in booting your system. Given my personal experience with the i9-7980XE, a CPU Core Voltage Override of 1.120 V might be optimal in any case if one does not perform any OverClocking (4.4 GHz stock turbo frequency)! In case of OC, the optimal CPU Core Voltage can certainly also exceed 1.2 V, e.g. 1.26 V with a i9-7980XE @ 4.8 Ghz OC (perfect and delidded sample), however a sophisticated water block circuit is absolutely mandatory in this case! Therefore, always watch also your CPU temps in addition when performing this iterative CPU Core Voltage Override Value Optimisation, which should not exceed 90 deg C under CPU max. load conditions!

​

Warning!

Before performing the CPU Core Voltage Override Value Optimisation Approach, save your actual BIOS settings to a USB Drive. If during the iterative approach you are not able to successfully boot your system, perform a CMOS reset and restore your BIOS settings from the USB Drive, by subsequently entering the last successful CPU Core Voltage Override value!

​

Never but never enter CPU Core Voltage Overrride values larger than 1.xx V! Too high voltages (e.g. 1.5-10 V) can severely damage your CPU! Thus, never forget about the comma after the 1!!! Note if you perform this iterative CPU Core Voltage Override Value Optimisation Procedure, you perform it at your own risk!

Many thanks to @DSM2 for all his comments, valuable input, and proposed solutions.

B3.) - Initial Gigabyte BIOS Configuration

Please note once more, that my Gigabyte BIOS settings initially used and such summarised below, might not reflect the actual optimum choice for this mainboard. Any user feedback is appreciated and welcome. In any case, before applying the specific settings listed below, please provide also your Gigabyte X299 Aorus Gaming 9 with the actual and hopefully best working BIOS firmware.

Please note the following important General Note / Advice and Error Prevention, when setting up your Skylake-X/X299 System and implementing the latest respective special iMacPro macOS High Sierra distribution.

This will create "AptioFix" and "AptioFix_Build" folders on your Desktop. The compiled AptioMemoryFix.efi can be found in ~/Desktop/AptioFix_Build/RELEASE/.

Note that with Clover_v2.4k_r4392, AptioMemoryFix.efi has become an official Customization Option of Clover and can now be selected and therefore also just easily implemented in the frame of the Clover Boot Loader Installation.

Note that for native NVRAM implementation, Clover's RC Scripts have to be omitted during the clover boot loader installation. If already previously installed, remove Clover's RC Scripts from the /etc directory of your macOS USB Flash Drive Installer or System Disk:

Code (Text):

sudo rm -rf /etc/rc.boot.d
sudo rm -rf /etc/rc.shutdown.d

AptioMemoryFix.efi works absolutely flawless on my system, without any memory allocation errors or slide issues even with the "slide" boot flag disabled.

However, anybody witnessing issues with AptioMemoryFix.efi can try to use Clover's OsxAptioFix3Drv-64.efi instead. Don't forget to remove AptioMemoryFix.efi from the /EFI/Clover/drivers64UEFI/ directories in the EFI-Folders of your macOS USB Flash Drive Installer and macOS System Disk in this case.

Also OsxAptioFix3Drv-64.efi maintains fully native NVRAM implementation and works absolutely flawless on my system, without any memory allocation errors or slide issues with the "slide" boot flag disabled. Note also that with OsxAptioFix3Drv-64.efi, Clover's RC Scripts have to be omitted during the clover boot loader installation. If already previously installed, remove Clover's RC Scripts from the /etc directory of your macOS USB Flash Drive Installer or System Disk as detailed above.

Not however, that all ATI Vega 64 and Frontier GPUs are natively implemented by OSX and run Out of Box (OoB). No need for the additional Whatevergreen.kext and Lilu.kext implementation.

b.) All Nvidia Graphics CardsUsers with SMBIOS MacPro1,1 can now also employ officially distributed Nvidia 10.13 Web Drivers for their Nvidia Pascal and Maxwell graphics cards! Upon my request from 7 January 2018, Nvidia officially realised the first WebDriver-387.10.10.10.25.105 for 10.13.2 (17C2120) and the first WebDriver-387.10.10.10.25.106 for 10.13.2 SA (17C2205) - Supplemental Update on 11 January 2018. On 25 January 2018, Nvidia also released a Web Driver 387.10.10.10.25.157 for 10.13.3 (17D2047), which worked flawless with Pascal GPUs (lagging issues have been reported for Maxwell GPUs). On 20 February 2018, Nvidia now also released a new Web Diver for 10.13.3 SA (17D2102). In case of persistent lagging issues, Maxwell GPU Users can alternatively use WebDriver-78.10.10.10.25.106 after a simple patching procedure detailed blow. 10.13.4 Beta 3 (17E160e) users can either use WebDriver-78.10.10.10.25.106 or 387.10.10.10.25.159 after a simple patching procedure. Nvidia Kepler Cards were anyway already natively implemented in the earlier beta distributions of macOS 10.13.

Note that the Nvidia Black Screen Prevention by means of NvidiaGraphixFixup.kext has become obsolete with SMBIOS iMacPro1.1. Thus, the latter kext can be removed from the /EFI/Clover/kexts/Other/ directory of the EFI-Folder on your macOS USB Flash Drive Installer and 10.13 System Disk.
For further details and error prevention see Section E.2).

​

3.) Avoid any MacOS assignments in KextToPatch and KernelToPatch entries implemented in the "Kernel and Kext Patches" Section of the Clover Configurator. If subsequently in my Guide you still find MatchOS assignments in respective figures or text, just ignore all likely yet persistent MatchOS assignments. In the config.plist of the EFI-Folder contained in EFI-X299-10.13.3-Release-iMacPro1,1-200218.zip, all MatchOS assignments have been definitely removed.

4.) If you have the Thunderbolt EX3 PCIe extension card already successfully connected with your ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe and properly implemented in your system, disconnect any Thunderbolt 2 drives during the macOS installation/upgrade procedure. If however the Thunderbolt EX3 PCIe extension card yet has not been properly configured and implemented in your system, remove the card for the macOS Upgrade or Clean Install procedure.

5.) Note that on some systems it might be necessary to check the KernelPM Option in the "Kernel and Kext Patches Section" of the Clover Configurator to successfully boot the respective system. Note that in the config.plist of the EFI-Folder attached below, this option is unchecked, as it is not required in case of the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe.

6.) Always check that you have the most actual apfs.efi in the /EFI/CLOVER/drivers64UEFI/ - directories of your USB Flash Drive Installer and System Disk!

The actual apfs.efi can be obtained by following the respective guideline detailed below:

b.) Copy the "Install macOS High Sierra.app" to your Desktop -> right-click with your mouse on the app and select "Show Package Contents" -> click with the mouse on "Contents" and subsequently on "Shared Support" -> right-click with the mouse on "BaseSystem.dmg" and select "Open With" -> select "pacifist.app". Pacifist is now loading the "BaseSystem.dmg" package contents.

c.) Now click with the mouse on "usr" -> "standalone" -> "i386". After a right-click on apfs.efi, select "Extract toCustom Location...". Choose your Desktop as Destination. Answer the subsequent question "Extract apfs.efi ?" with "Extract". You now have the most actual version of apfs.efi on your Desktop.

7.) For all users of ASUS motherboards with unlocked MSR 0XE2 BIOS register, Error Prevention C.7) is obsolete! Note that the new Firmware patches provided by @interferenc also resolve the Skylake-X TSC problem at Boot and Wake from Sleep. To avoid Boot problems and problems during Wake from Sleep, we formerly used VoodooTSCSync.kext or TSCAdjustReset.kext in the /EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other/ directory of both USB Flash Drive and System Disk. Both files can now be removed from all /EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other/ directories.

All users of ASUS motherboards with locked MSR 0XE2 BIOS register and very likely all users of motherboards from different brands where ASUS BIOS Firmware patches provided by @interferenc cannot be directly applied are forced to further use TSCAdjustReset.kext in the /EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other/ directory of both USB Flash Drive and System Disk.

To access TSCAdjustRest.kext, download primarily its source distribution for Github with the following terminal command:

Code (Text):

git clone https://github.com/interferenc/TSCAdjustReset

Subsequently copy the TSCAdjustRest source distribution to your Desktop using the following terminal command:

Code (Text):

mv /TSCAdjustReset ~/Desktop

Now change in the terminal to the TSCAdjustReset source distribution on your Desktop with the following terminal command:

Code (Text):

cd ~/Desktop/TSCAdjustReset/

Now compile the source distribution with Xcode by using the following terminal command:

Code (Text):

xcodebuild

After successful compilation, you will find the TSCAdjustRest.kext in ~/Desktop/TSCAdjustReset/build/Release/

Please note that the TSCAdjustRest.kext by default is configured for a 8-core CPU (16 threads) like the i7-7820X. To adopt the kext for Skylake-X processers with more or less cores than 8 cores, apply the following approach:

a.) Right-click with the mouse on the TSCAdjustRest.kext file and select "Show Packet Contents".

b.) Double-click with the mouse on /contents/ . After a right-click on the "Info.plist" file, select "Open with /Other". Select the TextEdit.app and edit the "Info.plist" file.

c.) Use the "find"-function of TextEdit.app and search for the term "IOCPUNumber"

d.) Note that the adequate IOCPUNumber for your particular Skylake-X processor is the number of its threads -1, by always keeping in mind that the number of it's threads is always 2x the number of it's cores.

Thus in case of the 8 core i7-7820X, the IOCPUNumber is 15 (16 threads - 1).

Code (Text):

<key>IOCPUNumber</key>
<integer>15</integer>

By following this methodology, the correct IOCPUNumber for the 10-core i9-7900X would be 19 (20 threads -1)

Code (Text):

<key>IOCPUNumber</key>
<integer>19</integer>

and the IOCPUNumber for the 18-core i9-7980XE would result in 35 (36 threads -1)

Code (Text):

<key>IOCPUNumber</key>
<integer>35</integer>

e.) After adopting the IOCPUNumber for your particular Skylake-X processor, save the info.plist file and copy the modified TSCAdjustRest.kext to the /EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other/ - directories of both USB Flash Drive Installer and System Disk and you are save and all done!

​

8.) Already during the first Beta Versions of macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Apple forced the beta users to use the new Apple file system APFS in case of a Clean Install/update of MacOS High Sierra 10.13. Also within macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 SA (17D2102) this is the case. Most APSF incompatibilities with available system related software apparently have been already removed. The actual version of Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) now supports the direct cloning of APFS system disks and hereby enables the previously missing option for APFS system backups. Until Boot-Loader Distribution Clover_v2.4k_r4210, it was also impossible to install the Clover Boot-Loader in the EFI-Partition of an APFS System Disk by means of the Clover Boot-Loader Installer Package. However, with any actual Clover Boot-Loader Distribution, the Clover Boot-Loader Installation works absolutely flawless on APFS System Disks.

Note that there is no way to convert an APFS disk back to HFS+ without the loss of all data, but one can easily reformat an APFS formatted disk to HFS+ under OSX by using either Apple's Disk Utility App or "diskutil" commands. All you need to do is to previously unmount the APFS volume before erasing it with a journaled HFS+ file system and a GRUB Partition Table (GTP). If you want to maintain the disk's content, perform a backup before erasing the disk with a HFS+ format.

The application of Apple's Disk utility is straight forward. The "diskutil" equivalent is detailed below:

In the Terminal app, type:

Code (Text):

diskutil list

In the output which you can read by scrolling back, you will find all internal disks named /dev/disk0, /dev/disk1, depending upon how many physical disks are present in your system.

Make a note of the disk identifier for the disk you intend to format (you can eliminate risk by removing all disks but the intended target).

In the Terminal app, type:

Code (Text):

diskutil unmount /dev/diskX

where diskX is a place holder for the disk to be unmounted.

Subsequently, you can erase the entire disk with HFS+ and a GPT by typing the following terminal command:

Code (Text):

diskutil partitionDisk /dev/diskX 1 GPT jhfs+ "iMacPro" R

where /dev/diskX is again a place holder for disk to be erased and iMacPro would be the label for the single partition created. The remaining 1 GPT jhfs+ and R arguments tell diskutil to create a single partition, within a GUID partition table, formatted as Journaled HFS+ and using the entire disk, respectively.

Alternatively one can also use the following terminal command:

Code (Text):

diskutil partitionDisk /dev/diskX GPT JHFS+ iMacPro 0b

where /dev/diskX is again a place holder for disk to be erased and iMacPro is again the label for the disk partition created. The GPT HFFS+ and 0b arguments again tell diskutil to create a single partition, within a GUID partition table, formatted as Journaled HFS+ and covering the entire disk, respectively.

In the Terminal app, type now:

Code (Text):

diskutil mount /dev/diskX

where diskX is again a place holder for the disk to be remounted.

Note, that by means of the "diskutil approach", brand new unformatted or not compatibly formatted system NVMe, SSD and HDD system drives can be also directly formatted within the macOS Clean Install procedure. When presented with the initial install screen where you are presented options to Restore From Backup or Install, select Terminal from the Utilities menu bar item;

The "diskutil" terminal approach is also able to convert a HFS+ macOS High Sierra 10.13 System Disk to APFS. To do so enter the following terminal command:

Code (Text):

diskutil apfs convert /dev/diskX

where diskX is again a place holder for the HFS+ disk to be converted to APFS. The same procedure again can also be directly performed by means of Apple's Disk Utility.

If you opt for an APFS System Disk implementation, please note that all other disks on your system also should be formatted with APFS. On systems with APFS disks and non-APFS disks, the boot duration will increase, as apsf.efi will perform a fsck check of non-AFPS disks (like HFS+ or Fat32) during boot. However, dual boot APFS Systems with an NTFS Windows System Disk are not effected by the apsf.efi issue, as OSX does not know how to properly deal with NTFS.

9.) All ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe users, who enabled the second LAN controller in the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe BIOS, are advised to download, unzip and copy the SmallTree-Intel-211-AT-PCIe-GBE.kext to the EFI-Folders of both USB Flash Drive Installer and 10.13 System Disk, or to disable the second LAN port in the BIOS during the MacOS Installation.

10.) Lilu and Lilu Plugin distribution remarks:

Previously, I witnessed boot kernel panics (KP) on my Skylake-X/X299 system when implementing Lilu.kext v1.2.0, AppleALC.kext v1.2.0 and NvididaGraphicsFixup.kext v1.2.0 in /EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other/ or /L/E/ (including LiluFriend.kext in the latter directory). The KPs only could be avoided with the additional boot flag -lilulowmem

The Lilu KPs might have been caused by a borked kextcache. However, even a kextcache rebuild with the following terminal commands:

Code (Text):

sudo touch /Library/Extensions && sudo kextcache -u /

sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions && sudo kextcache -u /

did not solve the issue. KPs caused by Lilu v1.2.0 and AppleALC 1.2.0 remained...

Thanks to the actual changes by @vit9696 in the Lilu.kext v1.2.1 source distribution, Lilu.kext v1.2.1 now behaves again similar to v1.1.x and all KP issues totally vanished.

To always access, download and compile the most actual but not yet officially released Lilu and Lilu plugin distributions, follow these links:

To successfully compile the AppleALC and NvidiaGraphicsFixup source code distributions with Xcode 9.2 under macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 SA (17D2102), download, unzip and copy the respective actual Lilu DEBUG distribution to the AppleALC and NvidiaGraphicsFixup source code distribution directories. To compile the respective Lilu, AppleALC, and NvidiaGraphicsFixup source code distributions just execute the terminal command "xcodebuild" after changing to the respective source code distribution with the "cd" terminal command. The resulting compiled kexts can be always found in the respective /build/Release/ sub-directories of the respective source code distribution directories.

11.) To clearly get kernel panic images with a call trace in case of kernel panics, I implemented (checked) boot flags "debug=0x100" and "keepsyms=1" in the config.plist of EFI-X299-10.13.3-Release-iMacPro1,1-200218.zip in the "Boot" Section of Clover Configurator under "Arguments".

12.) Note that in the current EFI-X299-10.13.3-Release-iMacPro1,1-200218.zip distributions, I also removed CsmVideoDxe-64.efi from /EFI/CLOVER/drivers64UEFI, as the latter file is only required for proper Legacy screen resolution purposes with CSM enabled, which is definitely not our case.

​

D.) iMac Pro macOS 10.13 High Sierra System Setup

Below, one finds a detailed description for the Clean Install of macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D2047) - special iMacPro build (D.4). This also includes the iMacPro EFI-Folder Preparation (D.1) as well as the iMac Pro macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D2047) Installer Package (D.2) and iMac Pro macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D2047) USB Flash Drive Installer Creation (D.3). One also finds instructions for a direct iMac Pro conversion of a functional Skylake-X/X299 system with a SMBIOS System Definition different from iMacPro1,1 and a standard macOS build implementation (D.5), as well as for the subsequent iMac Pro macOS High Sierra Update Procedure.

D.1) iMac Pro EFI-Folder Preparation

In order to successfully boot a macOS USB Flash Drive Installer or System Disk on a Hackintosh system, both drives must be equipped with an EFI-Folder in their EFI partitions. In this Section we will prepare a fully equipped EFI-Folder with SMBIOS iMacPro1,1 System definition.

2.) Open the config.plist in /EFI/Clover/ with the latest version of Clover Configurator (>/= v.4.60.0), proceed to the "SMBIOS" Section and complete the SMBIOS iMacPro1,1 Serial Number, Board Serial Number and SMUUID entries. These details are mandatory to successfully run iMessage and FaceTime on your iMac Pro System. Note that all other iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS Details are already implemented in the config.plist of EFI-X299-10.13.3-Release-iMacPro1,1-200218.zip.

Press several times the "Generate New" Button next to serial number text field.

In the final step, open a terminal, enter repeatedly the command "uuidgen", and copy the output value to
the SMUUID field in the "SMBIOS" Section of the Clover Configurator.

Finally save the modified config.plist.

You know have a fully equipped EFI-Folder for subsequent implementations as detailed below.

1.) Format a USB Flash Drive of your choice (source, named USB) with HFS+ [(Mac OS Extended (Journaled)] and a GUID partition table by means of Apple's Disk Utility on any other Hackintosh or Mac of your choice. This will create an empty HFS+ Partition and a yet empty EFI-partition on your iMac Pro macOS USB Flash Drive Installer.

This is a tricky part where many people fail. Note that "YOUR_USB_VOLUME" is a place holder in the above commands for the name of your real USB Flash Drive. Before executing the above commands, replace "YOUR_USB_VOLUME" by the real name of your USB Flash Drive.

To make the entire thing idiot proofed, let me explain the entire procedure by means of some nice example once provided by @paulotex to some user:

If your USB is called "Super USB I Like It Very Much" then you have to use:

cd /Volumes/Super\ USB\ I\ Like\ It\ Very\ Much

Note the "\" before each space.

The entire procedure for the assumed USB Flash Drive with the above name convention would look like that (don't forgot the isolated dot "." at the end of the last copy (cp) command below):

Follow the individual steps detailed below to successfully setup macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D2047) on a virgin system drive of your choice (NVMe, SSD or HDD).

1.) In order to perform a clean install of macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D2047), prepare a virgin NVMe, SDD or HDD destination drive for the iMac Pro macOS installation by formatting the drive with HFS+ [(Mac OS Extended (Journaled)] and a GUID partition table by means of Apple's Disk Utility on any other Hackintosh or Mac of your choice. This will create an empty HFS+ Partition and a yet empty EFI-partition on the drive.

2.) Copy the EFI-Folder you prepared in Section D.1) to the yet empty EFI Partition.

3.) Now connect the Destination Drive to your Hackintosh System and boot the latter with the plugged iMac Pro macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D2047) USB Flash Drive Installer, your created in Section D.2)

6.) After successful boot, pass the individual steps of the macOS high Sierra 10.13 installation menu and finally select the destination drive of your macOS High Sierra 10.13 Installation, which should be logically the system disk you successfully configured above. In the next step, the Installer will create a macOS High Sierra 10.13 Installer Partition on the system disk and subsequently reboot your system.

7.) During system reboot, just press again the F8 button to enter the BIOS boot menu. Select again to boot from your USB Flash Drive. In contrary to 6.), click this time on the "Install MacOS.." Icon in the clover boot screen to boot the newly created macOS High Sierra 10.13 Installer Partition on your system disk.

8.) After successful boot, you will enter now the macOS High Sierra 10.13 Installer Screen with a progress bar starting at 34 minutes.

9.) After another reboot, press again the F8 button to enter the BIOS boot menu. Select to boot with your System Disk EFI-folder. Click on the "MacOS High Sierra" icon in the clover boot screen to boot the updated macOS High Sierra 10.13 partition on your system disk.

10.) After successful boot you will enter again the macOS High Sierra 10.13 Installer Screen with a progress bar starting at 18 minutes. After successfully registration at iCloud at the end of the macOS installation, you now have your first iMac Pro macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D2047) build.

D.5)Direct iMac Pro conversions of a functional Skylake-X/X299 system with a SMBIOS System Definition different from iMacPro1,1 and a standard macOS build implementation

​

1.) Replace the EFI-Folder of your System Disk by the EFI-Folder you created in Section D.1)

2.) Copy /System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist to your Desktop, add BoardID "Mac-7BA5B2D9E42DDD94" under SupportedBoardIDs by means of Xcode as suggested by user Griven from the German Hackintosh-Forum and copy back the modified PlatformSupport.plist to System/Library/CoreServices/.

3.) If not already in your /Applications folder after performing Section D.2), copy the iMac Pro macOS Installer Package ("Install High Sierra.app") to your /Applications folder. Alternatively to D.2) and the macOS Full Package Installer, it is also sufficient to just download the original unmodified 10.13.3 (17D2047) BaseSystem.dmg Distribution from the Apple Server to your Desktop with the following terminal commands:

4.) Double click on the "Install High Sierra.app" in the /Applications Folder to start the macOS 10.13.3 (17D2047) installation. Alternatively, double click on the BaseSystem.dmg to mount the macOS installer and double click on the therein contained "Install macOS High Sierra.app" to start the macOS 10.13.3 (17D2047) installation.

5.) After reboot, click on the "Install MacOS.." Icon in the clover boot screen to boot the newly created macOS High Sierra 10.13 Installer Partition on your system disk.
6.) After successful boot, you will enter now the macOS High Sierra 10.13 Installer Screen with a progress bar starting at 43 minutes.

7.) After another reboot, click on the "MacOS High Sierra" icon in the clover boot screen to boot the updated macOS High Sierra 10.13 partition on your system disk.

8.) After successful boot you will enter again the macOS High Sierra 10.13 Installer Screen with a progress bar starting at 18 minutes. After successfully registration at iCloud at the end of the macOS installation, you now have your first iMac Pro macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D2047) build.

After the successful clean install or conversion you can update your iMac Pro macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D2047) build to macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 SA (17D2102) or macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 Public Beta 3 (17E160e) directly via the Appstore. In case of 10.13.4 beta, it is recommended to clone your 10.13.3 (17D2047) System Disk with Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) to a test drive and to update to 10.13.4 Public Beta 3 (17E160e) on the latter.

Also any other future macOS High Sierra Update can be directly performed via the Appstore.

The EFI folder of EFI-X299-10.13.3-Release-iMacPro1,1-200218.zip attached towards the end of this originating post/guide, already contains a fully functional HWP (Intel SpeedShift Technology) CPU power management configuration for all Skylake-X processors!

The excellent news are that on Skylake-X/X299 Systems with unlocked mainboard BIOS MSR 0xE2 BIOS register and SMBIOS iMacPro1,1 we now can gain fully native HWP (IntelSpeedShift) Power Management after disabling the last remaining XCPM KernelToPatch entry "xcpm_core_scope_msrs" in Section "Kernel and Kext Patches" of Clover Configurator, which by default is yet implemented and enabled in the config.plist of the distributed EFI-Folder EFI-X299-10.13.3-Release-iMacPro1,1-200218.zip.

Users with locked mainboard BIOS MSR 0xE2 register, still have to use the "xcpm_core_scope_msrs" XCPM KernelToPatch entry to successfully boot their systems. Otherwise the OSX Kernel will write to that BIOS register and cause KP at boot!

What a nice achievement for all users with unlocked mainboard BIOS MSR 0xE2 BIOS register! No XCPM Kernel patches, no FakeCUPID, just beautiful native HWP (Intel SpeedShift Technology) CPU power management for all Skylake-X CPUs. Just remove, if still present, all XCPM Kernel patches and the FakeCPUID from your config.plist.

HWP is a way for the processor itself to manage the power consumption, with minor input from OSX on what it thinks it needs. In contrary, XCPM is the OSX power management part. It directly controls older hardware like Broadwell-E/EP or Haswell-E/EP and enables HWP on newer hardware like Skylake-X. It also sets some HWP variables, like the desired frequency at the maximum.

XCPM is enabled by default. Typically the command "sysctl machdep.xcpm.mode" reveals 1, which means that XCPM is active.

For it's complete configuration, XCPM still requires the CPU "plugin-type" injection to properly load the required XCPM frequency vectors from the iMacPro.plist, which can be directly achieved within the config.plist by checking "PluginType" in Section "ACPI" of Clover Configurator.

Alternatively, the plugin-type injection also can be performed by some injector SSDT like the ssdt.aml provided by @interferenc, attached at the bottom of this originating post (guide). For the proper "plugin-type" injection on your system, alternatively download and unzip the ssdt.aml and copy the file to the /EFI/Clover/ACPI/patched/ directory of the EFI-Folder on your System Disk and reboot subsequently.

a.) Verify that in the IORegistryExplorer you have now under CP00@0 the following entry:

Code (Text):

Property: Type: Value:
plugin-type Number 0x1

b.) Also verify with the terminal command:

Code (Text):

kextstat|grep -y x86plat

that the "X86PlatformPlugin.kext" is now loaded. If the command returns something like

that you got now rid of the Apple Intel CPU power management. If the result is empty you are fine.

d.) Verify with the following terminal command:

Code (Text):

sysctl -n machdep.xcpm.vectors_loaded_count

If this command returns "1", the XCPM FrequencyVectors are properly loaded and you are all set.

E.2) Graphics Configuration:

ATI graphics cards startup solutions like the Gigabyte Radeon RX 560 or RX 580 just require two basic kexts in the /EFI/Clover/kexts/Other/ directory of the EFI folders on both USB Flash Drive Installer and 10.13 System Disk , i.e. namely the WhateverGreen.kext v1.1.4 and the Lilu.kext v1.2.1.

ATI Radeon Vega 64 and Frontier users should have full native support under macOS High Sierra 10.13. These GPUs run Out of Box and do not require any additional tools or measurements like Whatevergreen.kext or Lilu.kext

Also Nvidia Kepler Cards are also natively implemented.

All Nvidia Pascal and Maxwell graphics cards users can now also employ the officially distributed Nvidia 10.13 Web Drivers for their Nvidia Pascal and Maxwell graphics cards! Upon my request from 7 January 2018, Nvidia officially realised the first WebDriver-387.10.10.10.25.105 for 10.13.2 (17C2120) and the first WebDriver-387.10.10.10.25.106 for 10.13.2 SA (17C2205) - Supplemental Update on 11 January 2018. On 25 January 2018, Nvidia also released a Web Driver 387.10.10.10.25.157 for 10.13.3 (17D2047), which worked flawless with Pascal GPUs (lagging issues have been reported for Maxwell GPUs). On 20 February 2018, Nvidia now also released a new Web Diver for 10.13.3 SA (17D2102). In case of persistent lagging issues, Maxwell GPU Users can alternatively use WebDriver-78.10.10.10.25.106 after a simple patching procedure detailed blow. 10.13.4 Public Beta 3 (17E160e) users can either use WebDriver-78.10.10.10.25.106 or 387.10.10.10.25.159 after a simple patching procedure. Nvidia Kepler Cards were anyway already natively implemented in the earlier beta distributions of macOS 10.13.

The patch procedure is simple and fully described in the implemented Readme.txt and will reveal a Repackaged-WebDriver.pkg, which can be used for the Nvidia Web Driver Installation under macOS 10.13.3 SA (17D2102) or 10.13.4 public beta 3 (17E160e).

Nvidia Web Driver Installation and Black Screen Prevention:

Apparently with SMBIOS iMacPro1,1, the Nvidia Black Screen Prevention has become obsolete. Thanks to @fabiosun from InsanelyMac for this finding. Thus, NvidiaGraphicsFixup.kext v1.2.2, subverting AppleMobileFileIntegrity banning the driver can be removed from the /EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other/ directory of your macOS Flash Drive Installer and 10.13 System Disk!

a.) Install now the official or patched Nvidia 10.13 Web Driver Package.

b.) Now reboot as requested by the Nvidia Web Driver Installer. All users who installed the official NVIDIA Web Driver Package will already have fully functional Web Driver.

c.) All Maxwell GPU 10.13.3 SA (17D2102) and 10.13.4 public beta 3 (17E160e) users still have to perform the following additional steps after installing the respective patched Nvidia Web Driver:

i.) Copy /L/E/ NVDAStartupWeb.kext to your Desktop.

ii.) Right-click on NVDAStartupWeb.kext and select show package content.

iii.) Change to "Contents" and edit the "Info.plist" with Xcode.

iv.) Go to IOKitPersonalities -> NVDAStartup -> change "NVDARequiredOS" from "17C2205" or "17D2102" to "17D2102" or "17E160e" (the corresponding build number of 10.13.4 public beta 3).

v.) Save the "Info.plist" file and copy the modified "NVDAStartupWeb.kext" to /L/E/ with root permission.

vi.) Open a terminal and enter the following commands:

Code (Text):

sudo chmod -R 755 /Library/Extensions/NVDAStartupWeb.kext

Code (Text):

sudo chown -R root:wheel /Library/Extensions/NVDAStartupWeb.kext

Code (Text):

sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions && sudo kextcache -u /

Code (Text):

sudo touch /Library/Extensions && sudo kextcache -u /

vii.) Reboot.

viii.) The Web Driver will not be active yet. Therefore, open the Nvidia Driver Manager and select "Nvidia Web Driver".

ix.) Reboot and you have a fully functional WEB Driver also for Maxwell GPUs under 10.13.3 SA (17D2102) or 10.13.4 public beta 3 (17E160e).

​

E.3) Audio Configuration:

Note that opposite to my previous EFI-Folder distributions, EFI-X299-10.13.3-Release-iMacPro1,1-200218.zip does not contain any default audio configuration. You have to implement the audio approach of your choice during the Post Installation process! Please select between one out of three possible audio implementations detailed below. To avoid the loss of analogue onboard audio (S1220A in case of the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe) on Wake from Sleep, please download, unzip and copy the latest CodecCommander.kext distribution of @RehabMan from bitbucket.org to the /EFI/Clover/kexts/Other directory in the EFI-Folder of your System Disk: https://bitbucket.org/RehabMan/os-x-eapd-codec-commander/downloads/.

E.3.1.) AppleALC Audio Implementation

The actual AppleALC audio implementation traces back to the extensive efforts and brilliant work @vit9696 and @apfelnico . This new AppleALC audio approach bases on the AppleALC.kext v1.2.2, which further requires the Lilu.kext v1.2.1 in the /EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other/ directory of your System Disk.

Provided that you use the EFI-Folder contained in EFI-X299-10.13.3-Release-iMacPro1,1-200218.zip, you need to open the config.plist in the /EFI/CLOVER/ directory of your System Disk with the Clover Configurator and enable the CAVS -> HDEF DSDT replacement patch
in Clover Configurator Section "ACPI" under "DSDT Patches".

Code (Text):

Comment: Find*[Hex] Replace [Hex]
CAVS -> HDEF 43415653 48444546

Note that opposite to the alternative VoodooHDA and CLoverALC approach detailed below, the AppleALC audio implementation requires an Audio ID in injection of "7" instead of "1". Implement the latter Audio ID in the config.plist of your System Disk under "Audio" and "Injection" in the Section "Devices" of the Clover Configurator.

1.) Provided that you use the EFI-Folder contained in EFI-X299-10.13.3-Release-iMacPro1,1-200218.zip, you need to open the config.plist in the /EFI/CLOVER/ directory of your System Disk with the Clover Configurator and enable the CAVS -> HDEF DSDT Replacement Patch in Clover Configurator Section "ACPI" under "DSDT Patches".

Search for HDEF and write down the "IOName"-entry under e.g. PC00@0/AppleACPIPCI/HDEF@1F,3 which can slightly deviate on mainboards different from the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe.

The HDEF-IOName on the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe is "pci8086,a2f0"

Concert the IOName as shown below in case of the HDEF-IOName of the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe:

"0xa2f08086"

c.) Now replace in the "Info.plist" of "VoodooHDA.kext"

"0x43831002"

by

"0xa2f08086"

and save the "Info.plist".

d.) Copy the modified "VoodooHDA.kext" to the /EFI/Clover/kexts/Other/ - directory of your System Disk.
4.) Download, unzip and copy the VoodooHDA.prefPane v1.2 attached below to ~/Library/PreferencePanes/

5.) Note that the VoodooHDA audio approach requires an Audio ID in injection of "1". The corresponding modification of the config.plist has to be implemented by means of the Clover Configurator by modifying the respective entry in Section "Devices".

6.) Reboot

To remove the VoodooHDA audio implementation, perform the following steps:

2.) Remove VoodooHDA.kext from the /EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other/ directory of your System Disk.

3.) Remove VoodooHDA.prefPane from ~/Library/PreferencePanes/

4.) Adopt the Audio ID Injection in your config.plist in Section "Devices" of the Clover Configurator for the alternative audio approach you intent to use

5.) Reboot

E.3.3) cloverALC Audio Implementation

@toleda 's cloverALC audio approach has been implemented thanks to the respective advices and help of user @Ramalama. Note that in contrary to the AppleALC and VoodooHDA approaches, the cloverALC audio approach detailed below will patch the native vanilla AppleHDA.kext in the /S/L/E directory of your System Disk! This before implementing the cloverALC audio approach, backup your native vanilla AppleHDA.kext from the /S/L/E directory on your System Disk! You will have to reinstall the native vanilla AppleHDA.kext from the /S/L/E directory on your System Disk with the appropriate permissions during a removal of the cloverALC Audio Implementation! Thus you need a backup of the latter native vanilla kext in any case!

CloverALC audio approach installation:

1.) Provided that you use the EFI-Folder contained in EFI-X299-10.13.3-Release-iMacPro1,1-200218.zip, you need to open the config.plist in the /EFI/CLOVER/ directory of your System Disk with the Clover Configurator and enable the CAVS -> HDEF DSDT Replacement Patch in Clover Configurator Section "ACPI" under "DSDT Patches".

Code (Text):

Comment Find*[Hex] Replace[Hex]
Rename CAVS to HDEF 43415653 48444546

2.) Change the Audio ID Injection in the config.plist on your System Disk in Section "Devices" under "Audio" and "Inject" to "1".

3.) Add the following cloverALC related KextToPatch entries to your config.plist on your System Disk in section "Kerneland Kext Patches" of Clover Configurator in the "KextsToPatch" listing:

Just note that for the else now totally native XHC USB implementation, one just needs to add a XHC USB port limit patch in the config.plist under "KextsToPatch" in Section "Kernel and Kext Patches" of Clover Configurator, as else not all available XHC USB ports will be natively implemented:

For the successful implementation of the Thunderbolt EX3 PCIe Add-On Adapter, a fully working Dual Boot System with an UEFI Windows Implementation is unfortunately absolutely mandatory. You will not be able to configure your Thunderbolt EX3 PCIe Add-On Adapter in the mainboard BIOS, until the Adapter has been successfully recognised and initialised by the UEFI Windows System. Fortunately legal and official License Keys for the actual Windows 10 Pro distribution can be purchased with a little bit of temporal effort on Google for an actual price of 20 $ or even below! Thus, the installation of a dual boot system with Windows will require some additional temporal user effort but will not noticeably further affect the users's budget.

Please note that I especially emphasize the term UEFI, when speaking about the parallel Windows implementation. Don't use or perform a Legacy Implementation of Windows! In order to properly implement your Windows partition later-on in the Clover Bootloader and to comply with the actual Mainbaord-BIOS settings requirements, it is absolutely mandatory to run or perform an UEFI Windows implementation!

So if not already implemented, how to achieve a fully working UEFI Windows Implementation and Dual boot System with Windows?

1.) Important Note! For the implementation of the UEFI Windows Distribution disconnect all usually plugged macOSDrives from your rig! The Windows installer will implement a Windows Boot Loader! If you have any macOS Drive connected during installation, the latter Windows Boot Loader might overwrite and destroy your current Clover Boot Loader. This is the last thing you want! Thus for the windows installation just connect the destination drive for the installation and the Windows USB Flash Drive Installer your will create in the subsequent step below!

2.) This Tutorial explains in all necessary detail how to download an actual Windows 10 Creator distribution, and how tosubsequently create a bootable USB Flash Drive Installer for a subsequent UEFI Windows 10 installation by means RUFUS! Don't put emphasis on alternative optional methods and always take care that you just follow the instructions for a successful subsequent UEFI Windows Installation!

4.) This Tutorial explains in all necessary detail, how to migrate/clone/backup your Windows 10 UEFI System Disk afterinstallation for future maintenance and safety

5.) After successfully performing the UEFI Windows 10 Pro Creator Implementation, you can reconnect your macOS driveto your rig. The newly created UEFI Windows 10 Pro Creator Partition will automatically appear as a further boot option in both BIOS Boot Option Menu (F8) and Clover Boot Menu! No additional or further actions or measurements have to be taken!

6.) Once your Windows 10 Pro Creator Partition is fully operational, install all drivers and programs implemented on theASUS Prime X299 Series DVD attached to your mainboard. This will further allow you to properly adjust the desired AURA Mainboard Settings and offer many other mainboard configuration options.

7.) Now switch of your rig and start with the installation of the Thunderbolt EX3 PCIe Add-On Adapter

a.) I recommend to install the adapter in third PCIe Slot from the bottom which is PCIEX_3

b.) Don't forget to also connect the attached TB-Cable with both the connector on the Thunderbolt EX3 PCIe Add-OnAdapter and the TB-Header on the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe mainboard.

10.) Shut down your rig, connect the Thunderbolt Device with the Thunderbolt EX3 Adaptor and boot

11.) You are done! Your Thunderbolt EX3 PCIe Adapter and connected devices should be now fully implemented andfunctional.

12.) Finally note that there is no Hot Plug Support with the current configuration. Thus related Thunderbolt Devices mustbe connected before System Boot and cannot be unplugged or replugged during system operation!

Thunderbolt Benchmark

For the sake fo completeness and for testing the overall Thunderbolt Functionality and Performance, I benchmarked the the data rates of an external Thunderbolt Drive connected via Apple's Thunderbolt-3 to Thunderbolt-2 Adapter. As External Thunderbolt Drive, I once more used the Lacie Rugged Thunderbolt / USB Type-A and Type-C HDD.

E.6) NVMe compatibility

In contrary to macOS Sierra 10.12, in macOS High Sierra 10.13 there is native support of non-4Kn NVMe SSDs, like my Samsung EVO 960 M.2 NVME. All patches applied under macOS Sierra 10.12 are therefore obsolete. The native support of non-4Kn NVMe SSDs enables the unique opportunity to directly perform a clean-install of macOS High Sierra 10.13 on M.2 NVMEs like the Samsung EVO 960.

E.7.) SSD TRIM Support:

Macs only enable TRIM for Apple-provided solid-state drives they come with. If you upgrade a Mac with an aftermarket SSD, the Mac won’t use TRIM with it. The same applies for SSD's used by a Hackintosh. When an operating system uses TRIM with a solid-state drive, it sends a signal to the SSD every time you delete a file. The SSD knows that the file is deleted and it can erase the file’s data from its flash storage. With flash memory, it’s faster to write to empty memory — to write to full memory, the memory must first be erased and then written to. This causes your SSD to slow down over time unless TRIM is enabled. TRIM ensures the physical NAND memory locations containing deleted files are erased before you need to write to them. The SSD can then manage its available storage more intelligently.

Note that the config.plist in the EFI-folder of EFI-X299-10.13.3-Release-iMacPro1,1-200218.zip attached towards the end of this guide, contains an SSD "TRIM Enabler" KextsToPatch entry, which can be found in the " Kernel and Kext Patches" Section of the Clover Configurator.

With this KextToPatch entry, SSD TRIM should be fully enabled on your 10.13 System, see Apple's System Report below.

NVMe and SSD Benchmark

For the sake of completeness please find below the Benchmark of connected NVMe and SDD Drives.

E.8) ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe on-board Ethernet-Functionality

Thanks to the SmallTree-Intel-211-AT-PCIe-GBE.kext, also the Intel I211_AT Gigabit on-board LAN controller of the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe will be correctly implemented and fully functional, in addition to the anyway natively implemented Intel I219-V Gigabyte on-board LAN controller of the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe. Thus, both ethernet ports on the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe should now be fully operational..

In order to properly implement all PCI devices available on your system and build, one needs an adequate ACPI DSDT Replacement Patch Table and a sophisticated SSDT-X299.aml. Both requirements have been originally successfully implemented for the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe by our gorgeous @apfelnico with partial contributions of @TheOfficialGypsy . Many thanks for the extensive efforts and extremely fruitful and brilliant work!I now adopted the ACPI DSDT Replacement Patches and the SSDT-X299.aml in concordance with SMBIOS iMacPro1,1. The updated ACPI DSDT Replacement Patches are already part of the config.plist contained in EFI-X299-10.13.3-Release-iMacPro1,1-200218.zip. The new SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml is attached at the bottom of this originating post/guide.

Note that both ACPI DSDT Replacement Patches and SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml can be build and PCIe slot population dependend and have to be verified and likely adopted or modified for all mainboards different from the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe and builds or PCIe slot populations different from the one that constitutes the baseline of this guide.

For the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe I will use in the following the PCIe Slot nomenclature depicted below:

The verification and likely adaptation/modification can be performed by the help of IORegistryExplorer v1.2.

How to adopted or modify the ACPI DSDT Replacement Patches and SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml is detailed in post #5083by means of the OSXWIFI PCIe Adaptor implementation in PCIe Slot-3. I hope that by this specific example it rapidly becomes evident that the correct PCI Device implementation cannot be outlined for each individual "build-in" or "slot-specific" PCI device within this guide. The complexity and effort would just exceed by far all available capacities and indeed require the implementation of a separate guide and thread in addition. I therefore hope on your skills and flexibility to extend and apply the approach and methodology detailed above to any other "build-in" or "slot-specific" PCI device yet to be adopted or implemented.

Important Note: It is strongly recommend to perform a stepwise PCI Device implementation by means of a minimalistic starter SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml, which just contains the Definition Block and Device Implementation for one single specific device. Once this PCI device has been successfully implemented, other PCI Device definitions can be added to the SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml. In case that subsequently the implementation of a specific PCI Device would be erroneous and fail, also all other already successfully implemented PCI devices would disappear from Section "PCI" of Apple's System report and the entire "PCI" Device implementation would fail. Thus a stepwise PCI device implementation/adaptation is highly recommended and sometimes deemed necessary!

Also keep always in mind to modify/adopt the ACPI replacements in your config.plist in parallel when ever necessary!

Note that all required ACPI DSDT Patches are already implemented in the config.plist in the /EFI/CLOVER/ directory of the EFI-Folder contained in EFI-X299-10.13.3-Release-iMacPro1,1-200218.zip. However, by default they are disabled, thus we will now open the config.plist in the /EFI/CLOVER/ directory of your 10.13 System Disk EFI-Folder with Clover Configurator and stepwise adopt (if necessary) and enable the different required DSDT replacement patches in Clover Configurator Section "ACPI" under "DSDT patches", by also discussing their respective function and impact.

If not already enabled in Section E.3), please enable this DSDT replacement patch now independent from your mainboard.

Code (Text):

Comment: Find*[Hex] Replace [Hex]
CAVS -> HDEF 43415653 48444546

b.) The PC00 -> PCI0 ACPI DSDT replacement patch has the main aim to achieve a SMBIOS iMacPro1,1specific PCI implementation. Note that under SMBIOS iMacPro1,1 all other PC0x definitions remain unchanged.

Please enable now the PC0x -> PCIx ACPI DSDT replacement patch.

Code (Text):

Comment: Find*[Hex] Replace [Hex]
PC00 -> PCI0 50433030 50434930

c.) SL05 -> GFX0 is a graphics related ACPI DSDT replacement patch to achieve consistency with the SMBIOSiMacPro1,1 variable naming. This ACPI DSDT replacement patch is not mainboard but slot specific! All mainboard users with their GPU in PCIe Slot 1 can now enable this ACPI DSDT replacement patch.

Code (Text):

Comment: Find*[Hex] Replace [Hex]
SL05 -> GFX0 534c3035 47465830

All mainboard users with their GPU in a PCIe Slot different from one have to adopt the patch previously. E.g. with a GPU in PCIe Slot 4, the ACPI DSDT replacement patch looks the following.

Code (Text):

Comment: Find*[Hex] Replace [Hex]
SL01 -> GFX0 534c3031 47465830

Users with two GPUs in PCIe Slot 1 and 4 might use the following ACPI DSDT replacement patches

Note that the respective ACPI DSDT replacement patch(es) are not GPU brand specific.

However, the SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml, which will be addressed in detail in Section E.9.2) below, can have GPU brand dependent device definitions and can also be sensitive with respect to the GPU PCIe population.

The ACPI code can use the_OSI method (implemented by the ACPI host) to check which Windows version is running. Most DSDT implementations will vary the USB configuration depending on the active Windows version. When running OS X, none of the DSDT _OSI("Windows <version>") checks will return "true" as there is only response from "Darwin". This issue can be solved by implementing the "OS Check Fix" family of DSDT patches in the SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml. By DSDT patching we can simulate a certain version of Windows although running Darwin and we can obtain a system behaviour similar to a windows version specific environment. The respective SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml implementations will be discussed in Section E.10.2) below. Note that in addition to the OSI -> XOSI DSDT Replacement Patch, one needs to add theSSDT-XOSI.aml in the /EFI/Clover/ACPI/pathed directory of the System Disk EFI-Folder.

ii.) On the Asus X299 Prime Deluxe and most likely on all other X299 mobos we have the EC0 and H_EC controllers,which have to be renamed to 'EC' for proper USB power management. Thus once more investigate your mainboard specific IOREG entry and enable both EC0_ -> EC__ or and H_EC -> EC__ DSDT Replacement Patches.

h.) The LPC0 -> LPCB ACPI DSDT Replacement Patch is AppleLPC and SMBus related and is applied for consistency withthe variable naming on a real Mac. Note that LPCB injects AppleLPC, which however is not required in the X299 environment. X299 Systems seem to have sleep problems with the SMBus properties injected. Thus, the LPCB functionality will be disabled within the SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml.

i.) The SMBS._ADR -> XSBU.XADR Replacement renames SMBS for SBUS two show up in IOREG. In principle we have two devices with the same address, one called SMBS and the other one called SBUS. SBUS will never show up in IOREG as long SMBS exists. But SBUS is exactly the variable we need in concordance with the IOREG from the iMacPro Dump.

j.) FPU_->MATH, TMR_->TIMR, PIC_->IPIC are all ACPI DSDT Replacement Patches for consistency with the variablenaming on a real Mac. The variables are however functionless on either our X299 boards or real Macs.

Please enable now all three ACPI DSDT Replacement Patches independent from your mainboard.

All OSX WIFI Broadcom BCM94360CD 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.0 users of different mainboards or with the PCIe Adapter in a PCIe Slot different from 3 have to primarily verify and likely adopt/modify the SLOC -> ARPT in concordance with the IOREG entries for their specific mainboard and build or slot population. Users without the OSX WIFI Broadcom BCM94360CD 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.0 PCIe Adapter can simply leave this ACPI DSDT replacement patch disabled. Users of a WIFI and Bluetooth Adapter different from the OSX WIFI Broadcom BCM94360CD 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.0 can enable this ACPI DSDT replacement patch but might have to adopt the SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml device implementation discussed in Section E9.2 below.

l.) SL01 -> UPSB is a Thunderbolt related ACPI DSDT replacement patch for consistency with the variablenaming on a real Mac when using the ASUS TBEX 3 PCIe Adapter on the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe in PCIe Slot 4. All respective users can now enable this ACPI DSDT replacement patch.

Code (Text):

Comment: Find*[Hex] Replace [Hex]
SL01 -> UPSB 534c3031 55505342

ASUS mainboard users with the TBEX 3 in a PCIe slot different from 4 have to primarily adopt the ACPI DSDT replacement patch in concordance with the IOREG entries for their specific mainboard and slot population. Users without the ASUS TBEX 3 or any other TB PCIe Adapter can simply leave this ACPI DSDT replacement patch disabled. Users of a TB Adapter different from the ASUS TBEX 3 can enable this ACPI DSDT replacement patch but might have to adopt the SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml device implementation discussed in Section E9.2 below.

m.) The DSM -> XDSM DSDT replacement patch is vital for loading the SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml, as all DSM methods used in theoriginal DSDT do have a not compatible structure totally different from the real Mac environment. Without any fix, all DSM methods would be simply ignored. Note that one single device can have only one DSM method, which can assign additional properties to the respective device.

For the proper PCI device implementation (detailed in the Figure above), which is mostly of cosmetic nature and not always directly related to device functionality, we now have to revise and likely adopt or modify the attached SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml to our specific build and system configuration with the help of the IORegistryExplorer. The entire section can also be simply skipped by unexperienced users, who also prefer to skip the implementation of the SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml and respective PCI Device implementation.

Note that for each device, the SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml contains a DefinitionBlock entry and the underlying PCI device implementation. In case of necessary modifications/adaptations, don't forget to also modify/adapt the respective DefinitionBlock entries in concordance with your IOREG entries. The entire SSDT structure is module like. Each module can be independently added, changed or removed in dependence of your specific build, needs and requirements. A stepwise implementation of the individual PCI devices is recommended!

The HDEF PCI device implementation is valid for the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe and likely for all other mainboards with the Realtek ALC S1220A Audio Controller chipset. It is a build-in device and does not have any slot specific dependency. In any case verify device path "PCI0.HDEF" and PCI device implementations by means of IOREG.

It is a build and PCIe slot population dependent device implementation. Nvidia Graphics Card users with more than one graphics card, or with an Nvidia graphics card in a PCIe slot different from PCIe Slot 1, will have to adopt the respective device path entries PC02.BR2A, PCIe Slot definitions and PCI device properties following their respective IOREG entries.

Below one finds an example of @apfelnico for a GFX and HDAU PCI implementation of 2x Radeon Vega 64 in PCIe Slot 1 and 4. Note that for such implementation also requires an additional DSDT Replacement patch, namely:

The PMCR PCI device implementation should be valid for all X299 mainboards and should not require any build specific adaptation/modification. In any case verify device path "PCI0.PMCR" and PCI device implementations by means of IOREG.

When using the XHCI device name for USB (see the XHCI PCI Device Implementation below), one observes a bunch of USB Power Errors when booting the system. The USBX PCI device implementation fixes this errors.

The XHCI USB3.0 ASMedia ASM1074 / Intel X299 Series Chipset PCI device implementation is valid for the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe and for all other X299 mainboards with the same XHC controller chipset. Verify and adopt/modify if necessary device path "PCI0.XHCI" and PCI device implementations by means of IOREG.

The XHC2,XHC3,XHC4 ASMedia ASM3142/ASM1543 USB 3.1 onboard Intel XHCI controller PCI device implementation is valid for the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe and for all other X299 mainboards with the same XHC USB3.1 controller ASMedia ASM3142 chipset configuration. Note that this SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml device implementation also performs the following ACPI Replacements

The current ANS2 Apple NVMe Controller PCI implementation is of purely cosmetic nature and is valid for the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe. Note that this SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml device implementation also performs the following ACPI Replacement

PCI0.RP09.PXSX -> PCI0.RP09.ANS2

in concordance with the respective SMBIOS iMacPro1,1 variable naming.

Verify and adopt/modify if necessary the "PCI0.RP09.ANS2" PCI device implementations by means of IOREG.

The SAT1 onboard Intel AHCI SATA controller PCI device implementation is valid for the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe and for all other X299 mainboards with the same AHCI SATA controller chipset. Verify and adopt/modify if necessary device path "PCI0.SAT1" and PCI device implementations by means of IOREG.

Note that the ETH0/ETH1 Intel I219V2 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet and Intel I211VA PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet onboard LAN controller PCI implementations are of pure cosmetic nature and only valid for ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe or X299 mainboards with the same LAN Controller configuration. Owners of different X299 mainboards have to verify and adopt/modify if necessary the device these PCI device implementations by means of IOREG.

The ARPT OSX WIFI Broadcom BCM94360CD 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.0 AirPort Controller PCI device implementation is of pure cosmetic nature and only valid for users of the latter WIFI/Bluetooth PCIe Adapter in PCIe Slot 3. Users of this PCIe Adapter within a PCIe slot population different from PCIe Slot 3 have to adapt/modify the respective device path "PC03.BR3D.ARPT" and likely also the respective ACPI DSDT Replacement Patch. Users of the Asus Prime X299 Deluxe onboard Bluetooth chipset controller or with a completely different WIFI/Bluetooth configuration have to either adopt the entire Airport PCI implementation by means of IOREG or can also skip the entire part.

The ThunderboltEX 3 PCI device implementation (in my personal opinion by far the most sophisticated and most beautiful PCI device implementation performed by @apfelnico) is of pure cosmetic nature and only valid for users of the latter TB PCIe Adapter in PCIe Slot 4. Users of this PCIe Adapter within a PCIe slot population different from PCIe Slot 3 have to adapt/modify the respective path entires "PC01", "BR1A" and likely also the respective UPSB ACPI DSDT Replacement. Users of TB PCIe Adapters different from the ASUS TBEX 3 or users without any TB PCIe Adapter, have to either adopt the entire TB PCI implementation by means of IOREG or can simply skip the entire part.

Note that ThunderboltEX 3 PCI device implementation also performs the following ACPI Replacement:

The DTG Method Implementation is required for SSDT functionality and has not to be modified or adopted in any case.

E.10) System Overview CPU Cosmetics

As our Skylake-X CPU at present will not be properly recognised by OS X, Apple's System Overview ("About This Mac") reveals incomplete or simply wrong CPU details. Many times CPU's like the i9-7980XE are implemented as "unknown"...

I recently discovered on InsanelyMac a sophisticated fix of pure cosmetic nature developed by Shaneee (also thanks to fabiosun for pointing me to this direction), which allows to implement those CPU details you want to be implemented. For the sake of simplicity, I summarise the necessary steps once more below. Note that the following example is only valid for systems with English as main system language. If your system language is German, French, Spanish, Chinese etc., substitute "English.lproj" in the individual commands by the "lproj" of your System language! Thanks to @PedroJSkywalker for this latter important advice!

Based on the ideas and instructions of @Matthew82 from InsanelyMac, I achieved an iMacPro ASUS Boot Splash Screen

by means of the following procedure:

1.) If not performed already previously during the ASUS BIOS Firmware Patching, download and install BREW and QT5 as described in Section B.1.1) and B.1.2). Subsequently, also download the most actual CodeRush UEFITool distribution from Github to your home directory, as described in B.1.3).

2.) Now compile the UEFI Tool distribution with the following terminal commands:

Select "Search.." in the UEFITool "Edit" Menu and perform a "GUID" search of "7BB28B99-61BB-11D5-9A5D-0090273FC14D" with "Header only"...

You will receive a message "GUID pattern "7BB28B99-61BB-11D5-9A5D-0090273FC14D" found as .... in 7BB28B99-....". Double click on that message and search for the "Raw section" accompanying the "7BB28B99-...." entry, which indeed is the Boot Image, which you can easily verify by extracting the raw section body (right-click on "Raw section" and select "Extract body") to your Desktop and by subsequently opening the extracted raw-file directly with Apple's "Preview.app" (right-click an the raw file and select "Open with.." -> Preview.app).

b.) To exchange the default original ASUS Boot Logo image file stored in "Raw Section" by the iMacPro.raw image file that you previously downloaded to your Desktop, right-click again on "Raw section", select this time "Replace body" and select the iMacPro.raw image file on your Desktop.

Note that the actual image dimension of iMacPro.raw (2131pix x 1457pix) was adopted for its use on my 38" LG 38UC99. For monitors with reduce screen resolution, iMacPro.raw might have to be adopted to an image dimension that suites your particular screen resolution, before its upload to "Raw section". If the Boot Logo image dimension is too big for your Monitor's screen resolution, you might just end up with a black screen during the BIOS initialisation at boot.

To do so, select in the Preview.app Menu -> "Tools" -> "Adjust Size". Change the image dimension and save the modified image with "File" -> "Export". In the "Export menu" press "Save", after selecting "JPEG" under "Format" , after choosing "Desktop" as the place to store the image, and after entering the new file name, which has to end with ".jpg".

Double-check by right-clicking on the resulting jpg image file and selecting "Get Info" that its file size does no exceed 200KB by far. If the latter would be the case, you would not be able to save the modified BIOS Firware file subsequently.

Finally just rename your new "XXXX.jpg" file to "XXXX.raw....

I guess, that by following the procedure detailed above, it is obvious that iMacPro.raw also can be substituted by any other image of your personal choice. Just be aware that it's background colour should be black (ecstatic reason for a its nice integration within the else black ASUS BIOS Boot Screen)

Many of you might miss the ability to control the display brightness with the F1/F2 keys on original Apple Keyboards, or with FN&F1/FN&F2 on non-Apple keyboards.

@bensge wrote a small but genius application to do just that on any Hackintosh System and to show the native OSX brightness system UI.

The App works for desktops and monitors that support DDC/CI. You have to connect your monitor to your GPU either via HDMI or DP. Note that you also have to enable DDC/CI support on your monitor to make the program work.

This application automatically adds itself as a Login Item in your User Settings in System Preferences.

Thanks to user @Ramalama for drawing my attention to this amazingly util implementation and for all his related instructive help and support.

2.) Native NightShift Functionality for Monitors with DDC/IC Support

To enable native NightShift functionality on the 38" LG 38UC99, one needs to download and unzip the respective Display Override Profile DisplayProductID-76fc, subsequently properly sign the file, and finally copy the file to /System/Library/Displays/Contents/Resources/Overrides/DisplayVendorID-1e6d/.

Subsequently you have to reboot and to newly adjust your Screen Resolution under "Display" in System Preferences.

And your are done:

Note that the attached Display Override Profile, does not allow a LG 38UC99 Monitor Frequency of 75Hz. Only 60Hz are supported.

Many thanks to user @Ramalama for providing this approach to our community. NightShift should also work for the Acer 38" and Dell 38" Monitors. Yet @Ramalama misses the respective EDIDs. Any body with e.g. the Acer XR382CQK should immediately upload the requested information and contact @Ramalama by posting in this thread! Many thanks in advance!

E.13) Logic-X and Audio Studio Software Functionality

The ASUS BIOS patching, providing full read/write access for the OSX Kernel to the MSR 0xE2 register, apparently also circumvents the Intel SKZ7 bug and yet missing BIOS microcode implementations. The Xnu CPU Power Management (XCPM) is now solely handled by the OSX Kernel, which completely resolves all former Logic-X or other studio audio software implementations. The same states for all other X299 mainboards with factory-default open MSR 0xE2 register implementation.

Nevertheless there is a second extremely important intrinsic LOGIC X configuration setting, which has to be adopted depending on the degree of sophistication of the studio audio hardware (Latency) in use.

In the following description, I will provide the correct audio preference settings for the ASUS Prime X299 with the onboard Realtek ALC S1220A audio chip:

1.) Within Logic X go to "Preferences" -> "Audio"

2.) Under Advanced check "Show Advanced Tools"

3.) Go back to the "Audio" settings and adopt "I/O Buffer Size" from "128" to e.g. "512" or even better "1024" Samples, in case you really use the onboard Realtek ALC S1220A audio chipset. Users of more sophisticated Studio Audio Hardware with better latencies have to adopt the I/O Buffer Size accordingly to their hardware implementation.

Now your Logic-X distribution should work absolutely flawless.

To check the now flawless functionality and performance of Logic-X, download, unzip and run the attached Logic-X test sample Test Hyperthreading Bug.logicx.zip of @DSM2 attached at the bottom of this originating post/guide. Note that the test sample sound volume output is zero, for avoiding epileptic or panic attacks at audience side... this is just a test sample to check the Logic-X functionality and performance and not a chart breaking audio sample.

Start Intel Power Gadget (IPG) in parallel and play the test sample with Logic-X:

You will rapidly notice that everything fully behaves as expected. The Hyperthreading-sample plays flawless at alternated CPU frequencies.

Already during the first individual macOS High Sierra 10.13 beta releases, Syklake-X/X299 systems reached full functionality together with flawless stability. Now with macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 SA (17D2102), it might be the right moment to follow my build and Desktop Installation Guide to unfold the unbelievable Skylake-X/X299 potential together with macOS High Sierra 10.13 (special iMac Pro build)!

I am quite optimistic that high-end builds based on extremely novel Skylake-X/X299 technology will find manifold application, not only in science and research at universities or research institutions, engineering facilities, or medical labs, etc... Skylake-X processors with up to 18 cores (36 threads) and turbo frequencies up to 4.8 GHz will make X299 to a "relatively cheap" but really serious alternative to the iMac Pro's and Mac Pro's. The principal intention of this desktop guide was to demonstrate, that we are able to build and configure fully functional and relatively "low-cost" high-end systems nowadays, which go far beyond of what Apple is able to offer at present or will be ever able to offer for some reasonable pricing. A Skylake-X/X299-System, that allows the use of all software-packages developed for MacOS, Unix, Linux or even Windows at the same time (e.g. think on Vine, Parallels, or a dual boot system configuration). The flexibility between different mainboards (Asus, Gigabyte, ASRock, MSI, etc.), different Skylake-X processors, and different RAM memory configurations (16-128GB) should make such system affordable for anybody (also home office, audio and video editing/production, etc.) and allow its perfect adaptation for the specific purpose, requirements and available budgets. It might not be necessary to outline, that current Skylake-X/X299 Systems perform absolutely stable on a 24/7/365 basis.

I am a scientist, expert in solar physics, space weather forecast and related telescope/instrument/space-mission development. In the frame of my scientific research, I developed parallelized image reconstruction, spectral line inversion and numerical modeling algorithms/applications, which require tremendous parallelized calculation power, RAM memory and storage capacities to reduce, analyze and interpret extensive and pioneering scientific ground-based or space-born observational data sets. This basically was also the professional motivation for developing my innovative iMacPro macOS High Sierra Hackintosh Build iSPOR-S (the imaging Spectropolarimetric Parallel Organized Reconstruction Server running iSPOR-DP, the Imaging Spectropolarimetric Parallel Organized Reconstruction Data Pipeline software package for the GREGOR Fabry-Pérot Interferometer, located at the 1.5m GREGOR Solar Telescope (Europe's largest solar telescope) on Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain) and for the entire respective iMac Pro Skylake-X/X299 Desktop User Guide Development, which hopefully will be also of benefit for others. Anybody interested can find more details on my personal webpage.

A couple notes after I finally got installation to work on my i9-7900x and Gigabyte Aorus Gaming 7 and using PB5:

I had to use a blank drive that was already formatted to Mac extended journal. My fresh out of box SSD did not even show up in Disk Manager. Once formatted using a USB enclosure and my MacBook, it finally showed up upon installation boot. Basically, Disk Manager does nothing in the PB5 installation disk. This is the case for both SATA and NVME. I would think this will not be an issue once High Sierra is official launched.

Using the OP's EFI, I got random stop errors right at the start of boot on the USB installation drive, but reset and trying again completes installation. Once installed on my SSD, no problems with boot.

My USB ports are randomly working and not.

As OP said, the performance of the Gigabyte is not 100%. I think this is due to the state of the Gigabyte BIOS and enabling XCMP. I have already reported some BIOS features not working, even in Windows, to Gigabyte. I'm sure things will stabilize in the near future.

Not sure what the "Pre-Boot FileVault" boot option is on the Clover boot screen.

Not sure if it's good or bad to use the new APFS file system. I've read conflicting reports. I had my drive pre-formated to standard extended journaled and I don't think PB5 installation changed that.

I don't know how much more I can try to do given that the Gigabyte BIOS is still beta (F7I) and there are no nVidia web drivers for my Titan xP. It also looks like we need the DEV community help with x299 USB ports. USB 2.0 works ok, but 3.0 is just totally random. I seriously doubt 3.1 works, but don't have anyway of testing.

However, I do have better confidence now that full support will eventually come, perhaps later this year with the iMac Pro launch. This is all speculative of course.

I have managed to install High Sierra on a MSI X299 mobo. I'm trying to install the nvidia web drivers for my MSI Geforce 1050Ti card. I go through the process in this guide. But whenever I select the web drivers (either manually or via the updater program) my system hangs with the following error.

I have managed to install High Sierra on a MSI X299 mobo. I'm trying to install the nvidia web drivers for my MSI Geforce 1050Ti card. I go through the process in this guide. But whenever I select the web drivers (either manually or via the updater program) my system hangs with the following error.

You need to install the 10.12.6 AppleGraphicsControl.kext on /S/L/E with the accurate permission suing Kext Utility. Then you have to patch the the "NVDAStartupWeb.kext" with the Nvidia Web Driver Updater v1.5 to the actual OS X version, i.e. "17A330h" (PB4/DP5) or "17A344b" (PB5/DP6))! One of the two steps you certainly missed!

Must have done something wrong. I redid it, probably for the fourth time, and this time it worked! It's picking up and the resolution is right, but the refresh rate is not at the stated 60Hz. Also, I can't play any videos.

Must have done something wrong. I redid it, probably for the fourth time, and this time it worked! It's picking up and the resolution is right, but the refresh rate is not at the stated 60Hz. Also, I can't play any videos.

But thank you, I'm making progress.

Click to expand...

If you have done everything properly your Nvidia Grapics card will be properly recognized under "Overview" and "System Report & Graphics/Display" of "ABOUT this Mac"

Must have done something wrong. I redid it, probably for the fourth time, and this time it worked! It's picking up and the resolution is right, but the refresh rate is not at the stated 60Hz. Also, I can't play any videos.

But thank you, I'm making progress.

Click to expand...

o.k. I found the solution... in fact I never tried the easy workaround I implemented here.... but now I did

You have to do it exactly in the following order, do it precisely like this and exactly in this order!